Author Description

The book opens with essays on dispute settlement, to which practicing lawyers understandably pay particularly close attention. A selection: Claus-Dieter Ehlermann discusses his experiences during six years as a member of the Appellate Body of the WTO. Then follows a perspective from the other side of the bench: the role of private counsel in WTO litigation. Problems with the compliance structure of the WTO dispute settlement process are examined. The approach taken by the Appellate Body in trade remedies cases is critically reviewed. This part concludes with an analysis of the practical implications of WTO law for private parties: how can private parties protest against WTO violations by third countries (a case study of the EU Trade Barriers Regulation, the equivalent to US Section 301) The second part addresses various WTO agreements. This part starts with market protection issues whereby member countries, under WTO Authority, use tariffs aimed at offsetting subsidies or dumping, or impose other trade restrictions by way of safeguard measures. To begin with, the WTO subsidies agreement is described. Next follows an analysis of the antidumping agreement. In addition, this part surveys practical issues concerning the special safeguard mechanism against China that was agreed at the time of Chinas accession to the WTO in 2001. An account of the Textile and Apparel Agreements is timely too as the agreed textile quota regime is ending in 2004. The book then moves beyond trade in goods. On intellectual property, the WTOs novel enforcement principles are analyzed in detail. A chapter on the WTOs rules on telecommunications services, including their first interpretation in the 2004 panel report in the Telmex case, concludes this part. Finally, in Part III, practitioners look ahead to developing principles and new issues facing the WTO and the world trading s y s t e m. Competition law principles, though no longer an immediate subject of negotiation in the current Doha Round